Family Division

Catchwords: Child protection - interim accommodation order contest - effect of transitional provisions of the Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Permanent Care and Other Matters) Act 2014 on proceedings to breach supervised custody order - calculation of period of time child has been in out of home care including relevance of time child has been on a supervised custody order - s287A Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 - effect of child being in out of home care for in excess of 24 months - effect of suspension of a supervised custody order - s262(6) and (7) Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 - s14(2)(d) Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 - interim accommodation order could not be extended beyond 29 February 2016 - new protection application issued.

Catchwords: Media application - section 534 Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 - restriction on publication of proceedings - application to publish pictures of parties to a proceeding in de-identified form - whether prohibition also applies to partial/pixilated/distorted pictures of a child or other party - best interests principles - whether public interest outweighs minimal risk of identification.

Catchwords: Child protection - protection applications - custody to Secretary order - whether the Children's Court has power to include a condition on the order that siblings be placed together - ruling.

Catchwords: Child protection - protection application - interim accommodation order contest - mother's heroin use leading to apprehension of child - child aged 12 years, 3 months with a very positive emotional bond with mother - child in mother's care all her life until apprehended and placed in out of home care 3 months ago - recent resumption of contact between child and father - whether in best interests of child to be returned immediately to mother or placed with father until eventual reunification with the mother or remian in current foster care placement until eventual reunification with the mother - whether father's and mother's access with the child should be unsupervised, unmonitored and overnight - Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, ss. 8, 10, 270 - F v C [Supreme Court of Victoria, unreported, 28/01/1994].

Catchwords: Child protection - protection application - likelihood of sexual abuse and associated physical and emotional abuse - father found guilty of possession of child pornography and using service carrier to offend - father a registered person under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 - mother willing to return to Tasmania - whether in best interests of infant daughter aged 1 year 5 months to place her in mother's full time care on supervision order or to place her on a custody to Secretary order - whether respite care conditions may be included in supervision order - whether father's access may occur at his home in Victoria and be supervised by paternal grandmother - Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, ss. 8, 10, 162(1)(c), 162(1)(d), 162(1)(e), 280.

Catchwords: Child protection - protection application - children aged 5 years 9 months, 2 years 9 months and 1 year 6 months - protective concerns centred on mother's mental health and use of cannabis and prescription medication as well as domestic violence in the relationship between the mother and father and environmental neglect while inmother's care - criticism of DOHS for ins initial recommendation of custody to Secretary order when father was willing and able to parent the children and there were no identified protective concerns about him - effect of mother's failure to give evidence - cumulative risk of harm - protection application proved on likelihood of emotional harm - whether in best interests of children to be placed on supervision order in care of the father or on supervision order in the care of the mother with assistance from a material aunt - conditions relating to access of mother and maternal aunt - relationship with orders under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwth) - Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, ss. 8, 10, 162(1)(c), 162(1)(e), 162(2), 280-282 - F v C [Supreme Court of Victoria, unreported, 28/01/1994]. Inconsistency between child protection order and family violence intervention order - dangers inherent in ex parte orders - father's attendance at counselling - variation of intervention order to remove inconsistency - Family Violence Protection Act 2008, s. 173.

Catchwords: Child protection - protection application - legal representation ordered for child not mature enough to give instructions - skin lesions - failure to heal - causation - Munchausen by Proxy/Dermatologica Artifacta - earlier protection application proved by consent - expert medical evidence - whether in the best interests of the child to be placed in out of home care on a custody to Secretary order or returned to the mother's full-time care on a supervision order via a transitional period on a further interim accommodation order.

Catchwords: Child protection - protection application - children aged 6 years 6 months, 4 years, 2 years 3 months and 4 months - protective concerns centred on substantial environmental neglect in an old Ministry of Housing flat, on the oldest child found wandering on occasions some disstance from home and on the mysterious disappearance of the parents and children from the family home and their subsequent location in a motel - whether custody to Secretary orders for the 3 oldest children should be extended and varied to reflect a non-reunification case plan or extended and revoked with the children returning to parental care on supervision orders - whether youngest child should be placed on a custody to Secretary order [to reside with the maternal uncle] or on a supervision order in the parents' care - whether oldest child autistic - attachment and bonding of children and parents - recommended sequence for reunification of children with parents - conflicting professional opinions on reunification analysed - criticism of DOHS for its recent handling of this case - 'traumatic history' of the children's removal from parents and being shuffled around from one placement to another - conditions relating to access of parents and oldest children - interim variation of custody to Secretary orders - Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, ss. 8, 10, 162(1)(c), 162(1)(e), 162(f), 295-297, 302, 308.

Catchwords: Child protection - applications to revoke, alternatively to vary custody to Secretary orders - protective concerns centred on mother's impulsive, aggressive and anti-social behaviour and father's neurological impairment and alsohol intake - two oldest children aged 7 years 6 months and 5 years 3 months in out of home care with long-term foster carer who was not able to become their permanent carer - youngest child aged 4 years 3 months in out of home care with paternal aunt - whether custody to Secretary orders should be revoked and replaced with guardianship to Secretary orders - relevant test - conditions relating to parental and sibling access - relevance of children's wishes - role of court in case-planning decisions - Children, Youth and Families ActI 2005, ss. 8, 10, 166-168, 301, 308, 310.

Catchwords: Child protection - applications to extend and revoke guardianship to Secretary order - from birth child had been living in a home characterised by chaos, violence between the parents and their excessive use of alcohol - at about age 15 months child was removed from parents' care after father had observed injuries on child's face consistent with him having been assaulted while in mother's care - whether 4 year old child should remain in the care of foster carers with whom he had lived for 15 months or be returned to the care of his mother - sequence in which the two applications should be heard - roles of Children's Court and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - whether the review provisions in the legislation have any affect upon the powers and responsibilities of the Children's Court in the determination of applications it has jurisdiction to hear - whether reunification with mother or permanent care in best interest of the child - safety and wellbeing of the child - attachment - "changed circumstances" - Children and Young Persons Act 1989, ss. 107, 109, 122 [df. Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, ss. 295, 305, 307, 333].